“It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at a press conference hours after the killings.

Authorities arrested four suspects — three men and one woman — and recovered two improvised explosive devices on cars connected to the suspects.

“These are people who I would describe as having extremist views, that have absolutely no place in New Zealand, and in fact have no place in the world,” Ardern said.

One of the suspects, an Australian man armed with a semiautomatic rifle, kicked off the orchestrated attack when he stormed into Masjid Al Noor mosque in the center of the city and opened fire on Muslims who were there for Friday prayers.

Ardern said 30 people were killed in the Masjid Al Noor massacre.

Another shooting happened a short while later at another nearby mosque in the city, where 10 people were slain. It was not clear if the same shooter carried out both attacks.